1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a handle grip piece for use in allowing the user to more easily grip the handle of a mug, and in particular, to a handle grip piece that includes a rotatable object for providing stress relief and amusement.
2. Description of the Related Art
There currently exist drinking mugs and containers that incorporate rotatable beads or balls providing therapeutic stress-relief or amusement to the user. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,248 to McConnell et al. disclose a number of embodiments where a rotatable object is secured to the handle of a mug or beverage container. These rotatable objects are positioned so that a user can use his or her fingers to play with these objects, thereby providing amusement value and helping the user to relieve stress. In some embodiments, McConnell et al. disclose the provision of detachable rotatable objects.
While McConnell et al. provide a number of different ways for orienting and configuring their rotatable objects, all of these rotatable objects are attached in close proximity to the handle, and many are provided integrally with the handle. As a result, these rotatable objects are rather difficult to manipulate when the user is gripping the handle of the mug. In particular, most of the rotatable objects can only be conveniently manipulated by a user's thumb when the user is gripping the handle.
In addition, unless McConnell et al.'s rotatable objects are provided at a very large size, the size of the handles in McConnell et al.'s mugs will be very small. In either case, having either an overly large rotatable object, or a handle that is small in proportion to the size of the mug, will make it difficult for the user to securely grip the handle, thereby affecting the stability of the mug or beverage container. Moreover, since McConnell et al. provide their rotatable objects very close to, or integral with, the handle, the user's grip of the handle is often interfered with or not completely stable.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,492,246 to Bailey is similar to U.S. Pat. No. 5,626,248 to McConnell et al. in that a rotatable counting disc is integrally attached to the top of the handle.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,932,542 to Chen et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,031,803 provide rotatable objects in the body of the mug or beverage container, away from the handle. Therefore, it is not possible to play with these rotatable objects when the user is gripping the handle of the mug or beverage container.
Thus, there still remains a need to provide a mug or beverage container having increased stress-relief and amusement value, and variety in use, while maintaining the safety and stability of the mug or beverage container when it is in use.